Hashira Loving Demon

Four - Trouble

Giyu Tomioka

At the butterfly mansion, we passed Tanjiro and his two friends.

"Mister Tomioka, it's nice to see you again." He said.

I nodded, but didn't say anything else. Nothing I had to say would be of importance anyway.

"Miss Shinobu, Mister Fuji was looking for you a moment ago." Tanjiro said.

"Thank you, Tanjiro. I will find him in a moment. First I have to make sure Tomioka is taken care of." She said.

Kocho led me to a room and had me sit in a chair. She closed the door behind her and approached me.

"I need you to remove your haori, jacket and shirt once more." She said.

I nodded and removed each layer, and sat in the chair waiting. She approached me, and examined my head first.

"Good, the bleeding has stopped. Is there any dizziness?" She asked.

"No. None. I'm fine, Kocho. Just patch me up and I can go back and help Rengoku." I said.

She shook her head. "You're in such a rush. Why do you all push yourselves like this?" She asked.

"Because we are Hashira." I said.

"Hashira or not, you are not immortal." She said.

Kocho began to remove the bandage she wrapped around my chest and examined the skin closely. I shivered at her touch, and she glanced up at me.

"For goodness sake, Tomioka. I'm examining your injury. Please pull yourself together." She scolded.

Life was unfair. I had just started to accept it, and then something good came into it, only for it to pulled from under my feet yet again.

I nodded and stared straight ahead of me. Kocho was happy. That was all I needed. If he made her happy, then I could accept it.

The door slid open and Kocho turned. Fuji took a glance at me and smirked then walked into the room.

"I heard you were here, Lord Tomioka." He said.

"You know you don't have time call me that anymore. You're a- ouch. Kocho, was that necessary?"

Kocho pressed hard on my rib, causing a stab of pain to run through my body. Fuji grinned at me, and I rolled my eyes.

"Yes, I had to reposition this bone. If I didn't, it would have healed incorrectly, only causing you more trouble down the road." She said.

"Fine. Just finish up here so I can leave."

"You in a rush, Lord Tomioka?" Fuji asked.

"I told you, you don't need to call me that. We are Hashira." I said.

"Yeah, yeah. I know. I just like getting under your skin." He said.

"I know you do." I said.

"So, why the rush?"

"I have to get back to Rengoku. There's a demon lurking nearby and we need to figure out what it's planning."